Balthasar Gelt: Cathay or Empire?

[crowe6891]

Just wondering whats the best strategy for Gelt stay in Cathay or Empire? I went Empire and it took a while to get up and running with his crap economy. I went north but all the penalties there just wasn't worth it pretty frustrating. I noticed he's so damn expensive I can't even have two armies and the economy is always in the red what the hell am I doing wrong? I don't have this problem with other Empire factions. Any advice?

[Enelith]

crowe6891 a écrit :

Any advice?

Yes : Play whatever you want, that's the point of the choice given to you.

[CrUsHeR]

Definitely Cathay. Going back is more of a roleplay choice.

If you make defpacts with all the Grand Cathay factions, their caravans let you meet all the Empire factions. Then confederate at first occasion.

[GamerHubert]

going back to the empire give u the opportunity to get tier 5 in the early game. So just from the aspect of rushing too OPness u should go to the empire.

[Darklordnj]

GamerHubert a écrit :

going back to the empire give u the opportunity to get tier 5 in the early game. So just from the aspect of rushing too OPness u should go to the empire.

Additionally, most of the Empire specific landmarks and factions to confederate are back in the Empire.

[CrUsHeR]

Getting that Altdorf T5 is a really nasty exploit.

Not sure why i gave the hint above - you make contact through the Cathay caravans, and you can confederate just fine from over there.

Landmark? Temple of Elemental Winds.

[SpeaksTooFast]

I played a bit into staying in Cathay and it was fun, have yet to try a return to the empire but want to. Using traditional moment and sea lanes I think staying in Cathay is slightly easier for getting all the landmarks as you could conceivably confed empire factions from caravan visibility and it takes a long time to get there or back over land and water.

[Jade Falcon]

Both are fun but the Cathay option is quieter and slower at first, also takes ages getting anywhere. I did it twice and both times got into a lengthy war with Grimgor.

Returning to the Empire seems like a worse option since you're losing all the settlements you built up in Cathay however you can blitz Black Pit Tribe, Festus, Kemmler and then Vlad really fast and you get a lot of money due to the free upkeep period. I took out Marienburg first because they always seem useless in every game. Out of the two I preferred returning to the Empire.

[CrUsHeR]

Jade Falcon a écrit :

Both are fun but the Cathay option is quieter and slower at first, also takes ages getting anywhere.

How?

You have at least half of Cathay for yourself. You can go west toward Ghorst, the Dragon Isles are fantastic income. Mountains are green, so you can take the entire K8P mountains. You have the Sea Lanes to get Lustria, too.

It is in fact the Empire where you are more or less trapped with no good expansion options.

[Fendelphi]

Staying in Cathay means a lot of territory that you can take that is otherwise out of your reach for many, many turns. And you have a lot of nearby mountain regions(that Gelt has suitable climate for) that does not belong to your immediate allies.

You will eventually get all the Empire territory once you start to confederate them(vision through Cathay Caravans).

[Human bean]

Flip a coin (or roll a dice)

[Dugaul]

going back to empire early can also be fun to - lots of options take over albion nice landmarks - help out boris tod brininger confederate him early - or take out vampires early go straight for vlads capital will knock him out early to.

In the end just have fun with playthroughs

[Sloul Des Tucs]

Staying in Cathay gives you access to possibly the best landmark for Getz.
The temple of wind (actually the very first settlement that you get has that landmark).

Also, you're very close to Sea Lane, and thus very mobile.
You can actually hunt down Yuan Bo using those sea lane and get his trait in a relative short time (it's not going to take 10 turns, but feasable under turn 40 or even less).

[Sloul Des Tucs]

Also, if you actually go hunt Yuan Bo, there is a landmark in south which gives +5% item find on all heroes. So, playing Gelt, usually stacking Wizards, it might be of interest.
It's The Chamber of Vision.
But hum, that might be tough to actually go there, grab that, and return to secure starting region.

[huey30]

Haven't played him yet but i saw a video showing that he can get a reward that gives him 100% upkeep reduction factionwide.

[crowe6891]

CrUsHeR a écrit :

Getting that Altdorf T5 is a really nasty exploit.

Not sure why i gave the hint above - you make contact through the Cathay caravans, and you can confederate just fine from over there.

Landmark? Temple of Elemental Winds.

I don't understand about the Altdorf T5 exploit you mean declare war on them and take it?